Well-documented History of Skerries Sailing Club

Paul Synnott was at the helm of the Skerries Historical Society’s April talk on the History of the Skerries Sailing Club. Paul presented a history of the club from 1933 to 1998.

The first clubhouse was at No 1 The Harbour where The Slipway Restaurant used to be. The present clubhouse consists of the old clubhouse and a major extension, which was completed in 1971. The club’s history is well documented thanks access to good club records and to an earlier paper on its history by the late Joey Dardis given to Paul by Micheline Shiels, Joey’s daughter.

Indicative of the strength of competition Skerries’ Mermaid fleet [the small, wood-colour boats with white sails that can be seen dotted all over the waters of the harbour during the season] is the fact that Skerries helmsmen such as Joe Boylan, Frank Browne, John Davis, Roger Bannon, Jim Dempsey and Harry Grimes won the Mermaid National Championships. Indeed Harry won it five times.

In August of 1993, Skerries Sailing Club hosted the Mirror National Championships. Paul Synnott was Commodore of the club at the time. In July 1997 Skerries Sailing Club hosted the GP14 World Championships, which was opened by President Mary Robinson. The event was a great success. It showed what could be achieved when a town and its clubs come together.

Sailing continues to grow in Skerries, with the club now boasting a very vibrant junior section.

Report by GEORGE HAND

Page updated – 23 / 2 / 2014